Retired CBC Senior Producer and International Assignment Editor Israel Cinman has passed away.

Cinman died Wednesday night after suffering a stroke in January.

He started his career with the public broadcaster in 1979 as a reporter, editor, writer and field producer in Montreal and Toronto, including working on The World at Six and Canada at Five. He went on to become senior producer of World Report and the Senior International Assignment Producer for Radio News and CBC Newsworld. He also produced documentaries for CBC News across radio and television.

After four decades with CBC, he retired in 2018, with his last assignment overseeing morning coverage across radio and CBC News Network as the early assignment editor.

“Israel spent more than 40 years with CBC News, and will be remembered as the thoughtful and calm voice on the other end of a phone when a reporter was calling in from a war zone or another place filled with chaos,” the corporation wrote in an internal note to staff this week. “Israel’s deep knowledge of the world and street smarts were a tonic for countless CBC staff abroad and across Canada.” 

“As an assignment editor his knowledge of the world has always run wide, and deep. His instincts – for news, for when to go and why it matters – are unerring. And when he sends you, you never feel alone,” wrote Margaret Evans, Senior International Correspondent, in his retirement note. 

Additionally, Cinman did work for the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation in Barbados, and served as a consultant and trainer for the English Section of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation.